Why teams are switching and what to look for
Cloudflare Stream is described as having "the least statistics available" compared to competitors. Client-side only analytics, GraphQL API limited to 1-month windows, and documentation that is "terribly sparse and looks abandoned."
No lead capture, CTAs, heatmaps, A/B testing, or engagement tools. No password protection, only signed URLs requiring your own authentication layer. For non-developer teams, there is no usable self-serve experience.
Storage costs the same whether you store 720p or 4K content. At scale, this pricing model can escalate quickly. Broader Cloudflare vendor lock-in means pricing negotiations become "periodic renegotiations every 6-12 months with salespeople."
Stream is a small add-on to Cloudflare's massive platform. Feature velocity is low. It is not a dedicated video product team building for video-specific needs.
The complete video platform built on Cloudflare's infrastructure. All the delivery performance with a real dashboard, AI search, and branded player on top.
Pricing: Starter $20/mo, Business $100/mo, Custom from $5,000/yr
API-first video infrastructure with built-in analytics and multi-CDN delivery. The developer upgrade from Stream.
Pricing: Free tier, usage-based from $20/mo
The price leader in video CDN. Pay-as-you-go with 119+ PoPs and a simpler pricing model than Stream.
Pricing: Pay-as-you-go from $0.01/GB, $1/mo minimum
Marketing video platform with the analytics, lead capture, and engagement tools Stream lacks entirely.
Pricing: Pro $79/mo, Advanced $319/mo, Premium custom
Full-featured video platform with privacy controls, collaboration, and a dashboard anyone can use.
Pricing: Free, Starter $12/mo (annual), Enterprise custom
Developer-focused video API with free encoding, usage-based delivery, and 140+ PoPs.
Pricing: Pay-as-you-go, from $0.0017/min delivered
| Platform | Pricing | Features | Ease of Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| host.video | From $20/mo flat | AI search, transcription, custom domains, password protection, white-label | Dashboard + API; self-serve |
| Mux | Usage-based from $20/mo | Video API, analytics, multi-CDN, AI | API-only; engineering required |
| Bunny Stream | Pay-as-you-go, ~$0.01/GB | CDN, HLS, API, DRM add-on | Developer-oriented; basic dashboard |
| Wistia | From $79/mo per-video | Marketing analytics, CTAs, lead capture | Dashboard; marketing-oriented |
| Vimeo | Free to ~$65/mo | Privacy controls, collaboration, 4K | Dashboard; familiar UI |
| api.video | Pay-as-you-go | Video API, free encoding, CDN | API-only; developer-focused |
Cloudflare Stream is cheap infrastructure, but infrastructure is all it is. If your team has outgrown bare-bones video delivery and needs analytics, password protection, a branded player, or searchable transcripts, host.video provides the complete platform layer on top of the same Cloudflare infrastructure. Same delivery economics. Actual product experience.